~~~~~
Initially my thoughts turned to
Africa for this challenge.
However, a little more thought and
New Zealand it is.
New Zealand is sometimes referred to
as Australia’s seventh state;
and I must confess it is a
home away from home in my opinion.
Now for some random images from our
2018 road trip around a small part
of New Zealand’s North Island.
Near Matamata we spent a couple
of nights at Buckland’s Airbnb.
This window view, from our room,
was enough to keep me happy.
If the view appears too rural for your liking,
there is always accommodation in Matamata itself.
We were there to visit the Hobbit Movie set
which is less than 5 kilometres from
Buckland’s airbnb.
The third of Waitomo’s Cave was Ruakuri Cave.
The only cave where photography
was freely allowed.
To reach the cave floor we had
to negotiate the spiral down.
And there was no magic way of getting
out of the cave without negotiating
the same spiral to ground level.
While in the Ruakuri Cave…
…there are plenty of sights…
…to view or photograph.
Several nights were spent in Taupo,
located on the north-eastern shore
of Lake Taupo.
About 15 minutes out of Taupo is Huka Falls.
Not big in either width or height,
however, big in water throughput.
Taupo also provided an extensive range…
…of flora to photograph during our visit.
About 90 kilometres to the south of Taupo is
Tongariro National Park
where I was able to capture this image of
Mt Ruapehu
At Rotorua we spent a night or two at
Hamurana Lodge
a Boutique Hotel out of Rotorua.
Using Hamurana Lodge as our base
we were able to visit
Whakarewarewa – Living Maori Village…
…and enjoy lunch cooked in a thermal spring
the traditional Maori way.
We arrived back in Auckland a few days prior
to No 1 Son’s wedding.
Number 2 Son and his wife had been sort
of shadowing us during our road trip.
As Daughter-in-Law celebrated her
birthday the day before we arrived
in Auckland we all met up for
a family celebration.
Dinner in Auckland’s Sky Tower.
New Zealand is a peaceful friendly country
with a wide variety of attractions.
AND it is roughly a two and a half hour
flight from Melbourne.
Compare that with a 14 hour journey
from Sydney to Johannesburg.
~~~~~
Sunday-Stills-Favourite-Vacation-Spot
~~~~~
WoollyMuses 
Gorgeous. In 2019 my youngest daughter traveled to NZ with a few friends and spent 17 days traveling the North and South island. They had a blast.
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I could well imagine. I did similar around 1980….23 days camping from top to bottom,
and still have fond memories of the trip.
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Oh my goodness, you had me at the Hobbit house, Don! I’m glad you chose New Zealand as your favorite and shared so many stunning pictures! I think when I can travel there some day it will be a high favorite! So much to see and do! glad you could link up and hope you have recovered well and are back to it!
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Thank you Terri. Those images were taken on my third NZ visit. The second was only a weekend engagement party in February the same year. My first visit in circa 1980 was a three week camping trip…top to bottom. So much variety in such a small space. Now we have to find time to road trip the South Island. 🙂
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